Wreck of the Day
by RememberToBreathe
Summary: OCcentric. Yet another doctor from New York makes her way to Seattle to join the rest of the SGH employees...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Grey's characters. Though I do use some of the writer's ideas and some situations in the show and tweak them a little.

A/N: This is my first fic here at and it may start a little slowly at first but please give it a chance and read and review honestly. Thanks!

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"You caught him doing _what_?!" One of my best friends, Rachel, exclaimed as I told them the story about catching my boyfriend, Daniel, now ex-boyfriend, in bed with his assistant when I came home early from a conference during our spontaneous pow-wow at a corner café.

"I hope you threw him out on his ass." Madison commented as she took a bite of her biscotti.

"I did. I told him he had half an hour to get his crap packed up and out the door before I threw everything out the window."

"Good for you." Rachel nodded in approval.

"Except he took Tag with him." I said forlornly thinking about our golden retriever that we bought on our two-year anniversary.

"That bastard!" Madison cursed loudly and a couple of other patrons turned to look at us. There are times when Madison forgets where she is when she gets worked up about something. This was one of those times. She loved that dog. Sometimes I worried that that was the only reason she was still friends with me. She seemed to love it more than even I did.

"Seriously, is that all men can think of? Sex?" Rachel shook her head obviously disgusted.

"Well, I guess when you look like Kendra. Eight feet tall, legs that go on forever, perfect boobs, and a nice ass…" I shrugged. Kendra was the complete opposite of me. The yin to my yang. She was blonde, blue eyed; the epitome of an all-American golden girl. I was petite, black hair, dark brown almond-shaped eyes; an ode to my mother's Asian side. "Anyway, I figured as much. The late nights, suspicious phone calls, aloofness in bed."

"You know what I think?" Rachel asked me. "I don't think you really loved him anyway." Ever the blunt one, Rachel said exactly what was on her mind. And usually, she was right, but this was one of those times I was determined to prove her wrong.

"Rach!" Madison shot her a warning look.

"Oh come on, Mads. If she really were in love with him, would she really be here with us right now? Or would our Cassie be laid out on her couch bawling while watching _Three's Company_ re-runs?"

"Oh gee, thanks. Bring that up." I said sarcastically as I remembered when they found me in that position during our college years when my boyfriend of five years and I broke up. I was devastated for the longest time. How could I not have been? He was my first love. And you know what they say; you never forget your first love. Apparently, my friends haven't forgotten about him either.

But it was a good point. Why wasn't I as devastated about the break up as I should have been? Maybe Rachel didn't deserve to be proven wrong this time.

As I pondered this question, Rachel and Madison tossed around some suggestions for a girl's night in the following night. I nodded my agreement and told them that I had to go into work for a couple of hours and make sure everything was alright at the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, I met up with Madison and Rachel at our favorite Japanese restaurant a couple of blocks near my apartment. I found them at our regular table ordering their drinks.

"Just water, please." I said when the waitress turned to me.

"Hey miss. How are you doing?" Madison greeted me.

"So it turns out I got accepted into three fellowship programs. One here, another in Seattle, and another in California." I answered as I sat down and opened my menu.

"That's great!" Rachel exclaimed. "Have you decided which one you're going to take?"

"I don't know yet. It'd be nice to stay here, but then Addison Montgomery-Shepherd is in Seattle and she's the one of the best in the country." I sighed. "But anyway, I'll figure it out. Right now, I'm hungry." With that our attentions went back to the menus.

A few minutes later, the waitress came back with the edamame the two ordered for the three of us and we ordered a variety of rolls to share. As we waited for our food to arrive, Rachel regaled us with stories about her glamorous job as general manager at one of the top hotels in New York. Their clients ran from P. Diddy to Bruce Willis to Kobe Bryant. Apparently, this week, Fergie and Josh Duhamel were in.

"You're so lucky, Rach." Madison sighed. "You get Fergie and I get Jonathan." Madison complained about her editor at her magazine. Madison was the writer of the group. She got a job as a columnist at a rising fashion magazine upon leaving graduate school. Since then the magazine has been rising to the top and is now regularly competing with magazines like Elle and Vogue.

"Are you kidding?" Rachel shook her head. "You get Louis Vuitton and I get to kiss ass."

I laughed at the two. They always argued about who had the better job when I'm pretty sure anyone would kill to have a job like either. I guess I haven't done too bad with my life either. The years of schooling and long hours of residency paid off.

The food arrived soon after and we talked as we ate, nicely avoiding the topic of the ex and the mistress and focusing on what was in according to the fashion magazine this fall instead. After we finished eating, we paid our bills and walked towards my apartment a few blocks away.

Michael, my doorman, greeted us as we approached the door. "Looking lovely today ladies."

"Oh Michael, you always say that." Rachel laughed.

"Because it's always true." He winked at her and we made our way into the elevator.

"He likes you, you know." I said pressing the button for the fifth floor.

"Oh come on." Rachel shook her head.

"He does. He asks about you all the time."

"He _is_ pretty cute."

Madison laughed. "Go for it Rach. You need a new man in your life."

Rachel's last relationship ended when he told her he was actually gay. They're still really good friends though. The best of friends, actually. So everything worked out in the end. But we still think she might have this unnatural fear that she turned him gay and the same thing will happen to the next one.

"He's not gay. That's for sure." I offered and Rachel slapped my shoulder. "Ow! I'm just saying."

After a moment of silence, the three of us burst into laughter at the thought of Michael being gay.

"You know what, Cass?" Madison said as we settled into my apartment, making a pitcher of margaritas and some popcorn for some movies we rented. "I think you should take the fellowship in Seattle. Why learn from someone mediocre when you can learn from the best?"

"I know, but my whole life's here." I said absentmindedly stirring the mixture.

"You can always come back." Rachel said.

"You guys just want to get rid of me, don't you?" I said in a jokingly angry manner.

They laughed.

"You know we love you, but maybe you need a change of scenery after the whole…Danny thing." Madison said honestly.

"Who knows? Maybe Mr. Right is in Seattle somewhere. You could meet him when you go see the Space Needle or something. And do the whole _Sleepless in Seattle_ bit." Rachel added.

I smiled at the thought. "To tell you guys the truth, I would love to go to Seattle and learn from Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. I was leaning more towards that one than the other two." The attending I was working under was actually a close friend of Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd's. They went to school and worked together for some time before she decided to open up her own private practice. He greatly encouraged me to go study under her even though that meant I had to turn down the offer I was given to study under him.

"Well then, it's settled." Madison said matter-of-factly. "You're going to Seattle."

"I guess I am."

"Wait, Montgomery-Shepherd? Wasn't she a doctor here in New York?" Rachel interrupted.

I nodded. "Yeah. But she and her husband moved to Seattle about half a year ago. Well, her husband first and then she followed. He didn't have time for her, she cheated, he left, she went back to go get him." It was common knowledge around the hospitals in New York especially since the Shepherds were the golden couple.

"Oh you doctors and your gossip." Madison sighed but Rachel shushed her.

"Anyway, apparently Mark Sloan, the guy that Montgomery-Shepherd slept with, followed her too." I continued.

"Scandal!" Rachel breathed.

That's Rachel for you. Always interested in gossip. "But, again, that's what people say. Who knows if it's the truth?"

"I guess you'll find out soon enough." Madison interjected.

"Ha. I guess so." I said moving into the living room. "Come on, let's veg." I flipped through the movies before sticking Boondock Saints into the DVD player.


	3. Chapter 3

Three weeks later, my furniture and other belongings were in storage and my apartment was being rented out to a lovely couple with no kids and I was getting ready for my first day of work in a hotel paid for by the hospital until I found a decent apartment for the next couple of years I'd be in Seattle.

I was glad to find that the hotel was only a few blocks away from Seattle Grace Hospital and in walking distance. After grabbing my tote bag, I shoved my hotel room key into a side pocket and pulled the door shut behind me.

Seattle Grace Hospital was one of the best teaching hospitals in Washington. Scratch that, it was one of the best teaching hospitals in the country, but now that they had four of the best surgeons in the country, I wouldn't be surprised if it was _the_ number one hospital in United States.

"Hm…" I said to myself as I walked down the street. "Maybe I should have brought an umbrella." I looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds rolling in. But it was Seattle, Seattle's sky was always full of clouds, right?

As I approached the hospital, I faintly heard thunder in the distance and increased my pace to avoid the raindrops threatening to fall, but apparently, I wasn't quick enough. By the time I got to the sliding doors of the hospital entrance, my hair was matted to my face and my clothes were stuck to my body like a second skin.

"Great." I muttered.

"First time in Seattle?" A male voice next to me asked.

I turned to look up at a man, about 5'11 with the pretty aquamarine eyes and perfectly styled dark brown hair. "Can you tell?" I asked.

He smiled. "It's okay. It happened to me when I first got here too. Just have to remember to bring an umbrella with you everywhere you go. Even if the weather says 20 chance of rain. Odds are, we're that 20." He shot me a friendly wink and left me standing at the doorway smiling. So maybe this day wouldn't be so bad at all. Not if all the doctors around here looked like him.

I walked up to the reception desk and asked for Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. After a few minutes, I spotted the redhead walking towards me.

"Dr. Cassiopeia Stone?" She asked extending her hand for a handshake.

"Please, I don't know what my parents were thinking when they named me. It's Cassie." I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd."

"Actually, it's Dr. Montgomery now." She gave me a small smile.

"Oh…" That was all I could say.

"Oh, no worries. It was time." She shrugged it off before looking me up and down. "I see you were caught in the 10 second torrential downpour."

I smiled sheepishly. "You caught me there. Note to self – never leave the house without an umbrella…ever."

"Lesson learned, huh?" She smiled at me warmly as she led me into the elevator. "We'll get you some scrubs in the locker room."

The elevator stopped a couple of floors below our destination and the same man that I had the five second conversation at the entrance appeared on the other side of the elevator doors. Dr. Montgomery let out what sounded like a muffled groan when the doors had opened.

"Well…We meet again." He smiled at me. "Addison." He nodded at the woman beside me.

"Derek." She responded stiffly. "I guess you've met my new fellow, Dr. Cassie Stone. Dr. Stone, this is Dr. Derek Shepherd."

Ah. The husband. Well, ex-husband. That semi-flirted with me not more than 10 minutes ago. Lord he was dreamy. But a little too perfect. I would think that being with someone that perfect would make a normal person uncomfortable and self-conscious.

The elevator ride was only 30 seconds long yet the tension that filled the very confined space made it seem like it took 30 minutes to get to our desired floor. Dr. Montgomery stepped out of the elevator first and briskly walked down the hall. I almost had to run after her into the locker room, but not before telling Dr. Shepherd that it was very nice to meet him.

"Dr. Stone, this is your locker." She showed me to a corner of the locker room. You'll find a pair of scrubs in there that should fit you."

"Dr. Montgomery, please call me Cassie." I said as I opened the locker to find the scrubs she was talking about.

"Alright Cassie. But please call me Addison. I know I'm your teacher, but I'd like to skip the formalities with you. Besides, I'm sure we'll become friends with our time together.

"Thank you."

"Okay. I'll leave you here to change. I'll be down in room 4123 checking in with a patient. After you get dressed, please meet me down there."

I nodded and she left the room. I quickly changed from my clothes into the scrubs. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was hopeless. I dug into my bag for a hair tie and quickly threw it up into a ponytail before making my way back to the elevator and towards the fourth floor.

I found the room and saw Addison and the patient surrounded by a group of interns making their rounds. I remembered those days. I was terrified. Terrified I would kill someone, terrified that I wouldn't make it through my 48 hour shift, and terrified that I would disappoint not only myself, but my parents too.

"—Mrs. Jacobson's surgery is scheduled for this afternoon." One of the interns finished presenting the case and all the other interns left but him.

I could hear their muffled whisperings of "Who is she?" and "I've never seen her before." as they walked to exit the room.

Apparently, Addison could to. "Oh, this is Dr. Stone, my new fellow from New York. Be nice to her, maybe she'll even ask you to scrub in a surgery or two."

They each introduced themselves to me as Cristina Yang, George O'Malley, Izzie Stevens, and Meredith Grey.

"Grey? As in Ellis Grey?" I asked looking at the younger woman. Every surgeon in the world knew who Ellis Grey was. Unfortunately, everyone also knew about her bout of Alzheimer's. I wanted to tell the younger woman that I knew what it was like, but I could already feel something odd in the air. It seems that the interns already didn't like me very much.

She nodded, "Nice to meet you Dr. Stone." and left to join the rest of her fellow interns.

"And this is Alex Karev." Addison introduced the intern that presented the case. He was a good looking doctor with an air of arrogance about him. Then again, surgeons without even a little bit of that air were hard to find.

"Dr. Karev." I nodded before turning to the patient. "Hello Mrs. Jacobson." The woman smiled warmly at me.

"Mrs. Jacobson, Dr. Stone is going to assist me in the procedure. I just wanted you to meet her before it happened." Addison said to the patient.

"Thank you." Mrs. Jacobson nodded and we left the patients room after a few more routine questions and a quick check up on her vital signs. Addison handed me the chart and walked towards the telephone one of the nurses held out to her.

"So you're the new girl that Shepherd was flirting with this morning." Dr. Karev leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed. He looked me up and down studying me. He had a serious look on his face.

"Excuse me?" I asked looking up from reviewing the chart.

"The girls were moaning and bitching about how they saw McDreamy, which is what they call him by the way, flirting with someone when he came in this morning. If you ask me, he's trouble." He casually explained as he studied my face intently as if to gauge my reaction as to why the interns already hated me.

McDreamy? Is that what the called him? I laughed remembering how I was thinking to myself that he _was_ quite dreamy while we were on the elevator.

"Oh please. Flirting?" I laughed. "He was just being nice to the poor girl that got caught in the torrential downpour that looked like a sad puppy walking into the hospital." I handed him the chart. "Dr. Karev, keep an eye on her BP, make sure it stays normal. With cases like this, she is prone to preeclampsia."

"Call me Alex." He said as he took the chart and made his way back into the patient's room. "I have a feeling the two of us are going to be allies around here." He gave me a friendly wink before turning around again and walking away.

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A/N: Please read and review. Feel free to give me any suggestions. I haven't gotten any reviews yet, but I'd really appreciate to hear your opinions.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know most of you are curious as to where I'm going with this, but hopefully you are still enjoying it nonetheless. Please read and review!

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Three surgeries and 15 hours later, my first shift at Seattle Grace Hospital was over, my clothes were dry, and the adrenaline was still pumping through my blood. A couple of the nurses mentioned something about a bar across the street and I was eager to check it out and unwind a little before going to bed.

I walked into the dimly lit Emerald City Bar and sat on one of the stools at the bar. Looking around, I saw that it was a popular hang out among the hospital staff. There were people in scrubs all over the room unwinding after a long day at work.

"You're new around here, aren't you?" The bartender greeted me.

"Yep." I nodded.

"I'm Joe." He introduced himself. "What can I get you?"

"Cassie." I replied. "I'll have a Tequila Screwdriver."

"Ahh. A tequila girl." Joe winked.

"That's right. Gets the job done." I laughed.

"Well then, this one's on the house. Think of it as a welcome to Seattle present." I smiled my appreciation.

"This seat taken?" A voice asked behind me

I turned to see Alex Karev standing there gesturing to the seat next to me. He had changed from his scrubs into a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt advertising Iowa state. "No, go ahead."

"Hey Joe. Can I get a beer?" He motioned to the bartender and Joe nodded. "So how was your first day at Seattle Grace?" Alex turned to me.

"Not bad. Your fellow interns don't like me very much, huh?" I said nodding thanks to Joe as he handed me my drink.

"I wouldn't say that. But it's okay, they don't like me very much either." Alex said taking a sip of his beer.

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Because I act like a jerk."

His answer was surprising. I had worked a couple of cases with him today and he was very professional and kind to the patients and helped me out a bit. Sure, his bedside manner could use some work, but he was an intern. He had time to learn.

He must have noticed my reaction. "You haven't seen that side of me. But I really do act like a jerk and cocky as hell." I felt his eyes studying me as I took a couple of sips from my drink. "You remind me of my sister."

I smiled. "Is that why you spared me the jerk act?"

"I guess. You walked into the room and I guess we had a connection."

I laughed. "That's not one of your lines, is it?"

He laughed with me. "That was pretty cheesy, wasn't it?" He shook his head. "It's weird, but I haven't really clicked with anyone at the hospital like I have with you."

I thought about our interactions during the day. It made sense to me. We talked and laughed and bantered back and forth like brother and sister, like we had known each other longer than just the 15 short hours that we were at the hospital. It was nice, I didn't normally click with people that easily, but we seemed to have hit it off pretty well. But I also sensed something during the day that any ordinary observer wouldn't have caught.

"You seem to have a connection with a certain redheaded attending…" I said slowly.

Alex choked on his beer. "What?!"

"Oh you know what I'm talking about." I rolled my eyes at him.

"She hates me." He said simply.

"I don't know about that." I answered.

We sat in companionable silence for a bit before we each ordered another round of drinks and the other interns entered the bar. They uncomfortably greeted me and looked at Alex and me sitting together with interest.

"Well, Dr. Stone, how about a game of darts?" Alex challenged me sensing my discomfort.

I glanced at my watch and saw that I had time for one game. "Okay. One game, then I'm in need of sleep. This time change still throws me off."

"You're from New York?" He asked as we moved towards the dart boards.

"Yep. Born and bred." I took the darts he offered me. "You might want to watch out. I might just poke your eye out. I think you need both of them to continue on to be a surgeon."

He quickly moved out of the way as I threw my first dart. I proceeded to trump him and he promised that he would beat me next time or at least next time we would play pool instead, which he stated that he was a million times better at than darts.

"In your dreams." I rolled my eyes at him and shrugged my jacket on. "I really should get back to the hotel."

"You didn't drive did you?" I guess he noticed I had gotten a little pink in the cheeks; a sure sign that I was feeling the alcohol.

"Nah. I'm going to walk. Hopefully it doesn't rain on me again." I joked.

"I'll walk you then." He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.

"It really isn't necessary." I protested.

"I insist. It's on the way to my apartment anyway." He led me outside the bar. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other interns watching us leave.

"Thanks Alex." I said as we walked side by side down the street.

"No problem. So when are you planning on finding your own apartment?" He made conversation on the way to my hotel.

"Soon, hopefully. I mean, the hotel's nice and everything, but it's not home. But I guess I don't really know what home really is now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a few months ago, I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me so I told him to get his crap out of our apartment. Ha. He even took the dog with him." I made a face and Alex laughed. "Anyway, I used to figure home is where the heart is, and I thought my heart was with him, so wherever he was, was my home. But my two best friends at home pointed something out. I really didn't love him the way I thought I did. I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him. So the breakup really didn't affect me as much as it should have. And here I am, with no home. I guess you could call me your wreck of the day."

"There's always your family." He suggested.

"Oh, my family's a complicated group of people." I said.

"I think most families are." He replied. "I know mine is."

"You know, I think you're right." I smiled at him as we approached the hotel. "Well, this is me. Thanks again for walking me home."

"No problem." He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze before walking away "Goodnight Dr. Stone."

"Alex, I just told you about my boyfriend cheating on me. I think you can call me Cassie." I called after him.

"Goodnight Cassie." He corrected himself.

"Well…" I said to myself as I entered the hotel. "I hope that's the beginning of at least one friendship here in Seattle."


	5. Chapter 5

Please read and review! I really appreciate it when you guys do. Makes my inspiration come a little bit quicker. Haha. Thanks to those that have.

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"How are you holding up?" Addison approached me a week later towards the end of my shift. I was at a nurses station finishing up a couple of charts and other various things that I had to put in my casework binder.

"Good. I just have to finish up some paperwork for my reports and then I'm done." I looked up from the chart I was studying.

"Good." She smiled. "I don't know if I've told you how glad I am to have you on the team. Jonathan talks so highly of you." She referred to my boss back in New York. "He and I went to school together, you know."

I nodded. "He always talked about you and the stunts you guys pulled in medical school and how all he wanted to do was be number one in your class, but just fell short to you." He had told the stories numerous times and every time, there was always a hint of jealousy, yet loads of admiration for the other doctor.

She laughed. "Those were the days, huh? Anyway, I've arranged for them to turn the adjoining room to my office into your own personal office instead of you working on your reports in the lounge. It should be done sometime next week."

"Thanks Addison."

"No problem." She nodded as she made her way down the hallway. "Oh wait." She called back. "I actually had a very important case come in last night, I would love it if you could help me out for a bit. Room 4135."

"Will do." I answered. "Let me just get these charts finished. It'll just take a couple more minutes." True to my word, I hurriedly finished the paperwork on one of my patients and made my way into the patient's room.

Addison noticed me walk in and nodded towards me. "Camille, this is Dr. Stone. She's new to the hospital and she's going to be helping me with your case." She handed me the chart.

"Hey Camille." I smiled at the young girl, not even 17. I looked over the chart and tried to keep my expression stoic as I scanned the tests. Camille was apparently the Chief's young niece and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was younger. Now it had come back full force and spread. "How are you doing today?"

She grinned at me. "Uncle Richard's letting them throw a prom here on Saturday. You'll be there, won't you?"

"Of course I will. I wouldn't miss it for the world." I found myself responding. A prom? I hated prom in high school.

Suddenly, the door swung open and two teenage girls walked into chattering loudly with George and Alex trailing behind them like two dogs with their tails between their legs. Heads hung in defeat.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "What happened to you two?"

"Please tell me one of you speaks teenage girl?" Alex gave both Addison and me a pleading look and we both burst out laughing.

I looked at the three teenagers in the room and how excited Camille was about the prom, but the two other girls would not stop talking about themes and colors that I took pity on the two interns.

I cleared my throat loudly. "Silver and white."

The two girls at Camille's bedside stared at me. "Silver and white?"

"Yeah, silver and white. So no matter what people wear, the colors will pop." I thanked the heavens that I was blessed with Madison for a friend. She was always talking about fashion week and silver and white. Knowing me, I would have chosen colors like pink and blue making the prom look more like a baby shower than a high school prom.

"Pop?"

"Yes. Pop. Plus, they're both very magical colors and you want it to be a magical night, don't you?" I added and the two girls nodded silently.

"So, get 300 silver balloons and 300 white balloons. Add 150 black ones for contrast too." Addison spoke up.

"I like it!" One of Camille's friends exclaimed.

"Oh! And streamers!" The other said excitedly, which again launched them into a tirade of decorating ideas.

"Okay you two, Camille needs her rest. Move it to the conference room, O'Malley." Addisorn ordered the four to leave the room.

Camille shook her head in disbelief as the foursome exited her room. "They really are something, aren't they?"

Addison and I nodded as we left her to get some sleep. Yes. That, they were.

"I'm going to go make sure O'Malley and Karev live through the attack of the teenage prom queens." I said. "And then I'm going to head out."

"Okay." Addison agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I made my way to the conference room down the hall and peeked through the window. Alex had his head on the table and George looked just as dejected as he tried to write down everything the girls were throwing at him. I walked into the room and they both looked at me gratefully. I sat down in between the girls and proceeded to meticulously organize every single detail of their friend's prom. By the time we were done, we had half a dozen to do lists for invitations, food, decorations, music selections, and pre-prom preparation for the three girls.

"You are a lifesaver." George said as the two girls happily walked out of the conference room with their lists in hand.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm just a little obsessive-compulsive when it comes to things I start. I think I freaked them out when I busted out the lists and started scheduling everything to the minute."

"I think we all got a little freaked out when you said that they were to spend exactly one hour and 20 minutes at Party City getting all of the decorations we needed and not one minute more." Alex chuckled.

"What can I say? I'm a stickler for staying on schedule. It's the way I was raised."

"Thanks so much Dr. Stone. I don't know what we would have done if we had to sit here and listen to them until they finally decided what kind of streamers to get, blah blah blah." George interjected.

"They're just looking out for their best friend." I shrugged. "And to a 17 year old girl, prom is a big deal."

"Was it a big deal to you?" Alex asked.

"Ha. It was the worst night of my life." I got up to leave before they could question me about it, but Karev beat me to it.

"What happened? You can't just leave it at that."

"I wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school. I had a couple of friends, but none of them wanted to go to prom. My parents forced me to though. They got a neighbor's son to take me. He was a couple of years older. Pretty cute, if I remember correctly…" I paused trying to remember what he looked like. I remember his name was Mike, but that's about it. "Anyway, all the girls couldn't believe he was there with me and within five minutes of getting there, he'd left me to go mingle with the popular girls."

"Ouch. That sucks."

"Yeah. Well, I managed to stick it out for about half an hour before begging my parents to come pick me up and that night was never ever mentioned again. Well, I guess until now."

"I'm glad I didn't go to prom…" George said thoughtfully.

"So I'm glad I could help, but my shift is now over so goodnight." I started towards the locker room when I ran into what felt like a wall as I rounded the corner.

"Whoa there tiger, where's the fire?" A deep, male voice chuckled as he fought to hold us both upright.

"I'm so sorry." I looked up and found myself apologizing to a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

"I don't think we've met." He studied me once we caught our balance. "Mark Sloan." He extended his hand for a handshake.

"Ah. The infamous head of plastics." I raised an eyebrow.

"Infamous, huh?" He laughed. "I'm really not that bad."

"We'll see about that." I shook the hand he offered me. "Cassie Stone, I'm Addison's fellow."

He shook my hand. "I guess I'll be seeing you around." He raised his hand to his forehead in mock salute as made his way down the hallway.

"They don't call him McSteamy for nothing, huh?" One of the residents called out from the nurses' station. "Miranda Bailey." She introduced herself. She was obviously a resident in her light blue colored scrubs, but the way she carried herself and spoke made me believe that most people in the hospital looked up to her as more than that. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if people, even attendings, were scared of her.

"Cassie Stone." I said distractedly. "McSteamy?"

"My interns gave him the nickname. Just like Shepherd's McDreamy." She explained.

I laughed. "Oh yes, McDreamy."

"And they came up with a nickname for you too."

"Do I want to know?" I asked.

"McSlutty." She rolled her eyes.

"Didn't think so." I said dryly as we shared an understanding look.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews I really appreciate them. I know, it took me forever to get this one up. School's been kicking my butt lately. But please, read and review!

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"You're late." I was greeted by the pretty face of Mark Sloan as I entered the floor the Chief had blocked off for the night just for the prom. He was all dressed up in a nicely tailored suit and tie and was leaning against a pillar with an unmistakable look of boredom on his face.

"I didn't realize punctuality was an issue on my night off." I answered looking around the room. They really did a good job with the decorations. Balloons floated around, some were set free, others were on strings and even others decorated the floor. Streamers were placed strategically on the ceilings and walls. They even managed to get a disco ball!

"Well, when no one even the least bit interesting is around, it is."

"Are you saying I'm interesting?" I was surprised.

"That's what I'm saying."

"Oh, but you're mistaken." I tried to correct him. "I read for fun and I cross-stitch in my spare time. Call me the uber-nerd if you please."

"See, you're even more interesting now. Who does either of those for fun?"

I rolled my eyes as I made my way to the refreshment table where I found Alex and George each eyeing their cups of punch in disgust. "Is it that bad?" I asked and the both nodded silently. "It can't be that bad." I said picking up a plastic cup filled with the red punch and took a tentative sip. "Oh it can."

"Not exactly jungle juice, huh?" Mark commented after he took my cup and took a sip.

"Jungle juice?" George asked.

"Typical cheap college party alcohol of choice for the ladies." I explained. "Usually made from Everclear and Kool-Aid."

"Someone's had experience with the stuff." Alex teased.

I laughed. "Oh please, don't remind me. I used to come back to my apartment to find that my roommates had thrown a party and jungle juice was dripping all over the place. I think our kitchen floor had a permanent red tint to it after we graduated and moved out."

The three of them looked at me with confused looks on their faces.

"What?" I asked before realizing why they were looking at me that way. "OH. I never touched it. Well…once. The one time they decided that a bottle and a half of Everclear would do it some good. Then I woke up the next day puking my guts out. And that's when I never touched the stuff ever again."

"Wait, isn't that stuff illegal?" Mark asked.

I shrugged feigning an innocent look. "Maybe." And the three men laughed at me. "Well, you've heard enough of my stories, I'm going to go say hi to Addison." I left the three men to join the circle of women that were gathered around one side of the makeshift dance floor.

"Cassie!" Addison greeted me with a quick hug. She looked great in a black number that hugged all the right curves. "You look great."

I looked down at my dress. "Last minute before I leave New York whim." I said explaining the emerald green v-necked halter dress I was wearing. I fell in love with it the moment I saw the dress in the window and had to buy it not knowing whether or not I would find something to wear it too.

"So, who else feels like they're in high school again?" Callie Torres, a resident in the orthopedic department motioned to the obvious divide between the males and the females of the hospital in the room. Nevermind the high school kids, they were all on the dance floor having fun. But the adults were separated down the middle.

"Well, go ahead Callie." Addison nudged her. "George did ask you to go with him."

Callie vigorously shook her head. "He needs to make the first move."

"This really is like high school all over again." I commented laughing at the exchange.

"Well what about you then, Miss Cassie?" Callie turned to me. "I'm not the only one that notices McSteamy making eyes at you."

"Oh please." I snorted at the statement. "Last thing I need is a guy that arrogant and knows he can get any woman he wants."

"Addie, go dance with Alex." Callie nodded towards the intern that was standing with the other two men in question.

"Me? Why?" Addison tried feigning surprise at the idea and the two of us gave her knowing looks. Apparently I wasn't the only one that noticed the sparks flying between the two doctors. "What? Okay. No thanks, I'll pass."

"Why aren't you dancing?" The chief's distinctive voice startled us.

"Oh! Chief! Hi!" I turned around and greeted him.

"My, don't you look dashing, Richard." Addison added.

"Your wife looks beautiful tonight." Callie interjected as well.

"You haven't answered my question, ladies." He looked at us sternly. "Why aren't any of you dancing?"

"Oh…umm…well…" I fumbled for the words.

"There's no one to dance with." Callie answered quickly. Good excuse.

"Hmm…" Chief Webber scanned the room thoughtfully. "I happen to see a group of fine young men not dancing either." Oh joy. "George!" The chief called out across the room. "You've been making eyes at Callie all night, why don't you just dance with her?"

George looked embarrassed and quickly made his way over to us. "Callie…?" He offered her his hand and she reluctantly took it. They slowly made their way onto the makeshift dance floor.

The two other guys made their way to us quickly for fear that they would be called out in front of everyone else and the chief responded positively. "Good good. Sloan, dance with Cassie here. Make her feel welcome, will you? This is the first Seattle Grace function she's been to."

"Gladly." Mark grinned at me as he took my hand and led me to the dance floor. Thankfully the DJ had just switched on a slow song and Mark took my right hand and I placed my left loosely on his shoulder. I looked past his shoulder to Addison who looked a little bit wary of dancing with Alex, but I'm sure Alex was enjoying it. "Enjoying the view?" Mark asked as he expertly swung me around so he could see what I was looking at. "Addison and Karev. Cute."

I wrinkled my nose as I looked up at him. "Seriously?"

"Sure, why not?" He shrugged.

"I thought…" I trailed off knowing he knew what I was going to say.

"Well, you thought wrong. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not very fond of being a dirty mistress when it comes to my best friend's wife."

"Speaking of dirty mistresses…" I nodded towards the entrance where Meredith and Derek had just entered.

"Ah, the other half of the club." Mark looked over his shoulder. "Care to join? It's quite titillating."

I laughed. "I think I'll pass. Though I do wonder what it's like to be on the other side."

He gave me a questioning look, but didn't say anything about it. We continued our dance in silence and when the DJ started playing a hip-hop song, we decided to sit it out and opted to mingle with the other hospital staff.

The prom continued for the next couple of hours until the chief decided that it was time for Camille to get some rest. All the students filed out, but not before exchanging some sort of well wishes to the chief's niece. The staff followed knowing that most of them would have an early morning the next day and the night shift stayed behind to help with the clean up.

Callie, Addison, and I walked out together and headed for our separate cars. "Nice car." Addison commented when she saw my rental. An old Ford Taurus. Not exactly the most reliable thing.

"I know." I shook my head and waved as they walked toward their respective cars.

I got into my car and slid my keys into the ignition to start the engine. The engine wouldn't turn over. Uh oh. I took a deep breath and tried again. It still didn't work. I got out of the car and popped the hood open and looked inside. But hell if I know anything about the engine of a car so I slammed the hood shut and leaned against the side of the car looking through my cell phone for a number for a cab.

"Hey tiger!" I looked over to see Mark driving by in his car. "Need a ride?"

I looked at him and I looked at my car. I didn't even have to think twice. "Do you mind?"

"Nah. Hop in." I grabbed my purse from my car and made my way towards his.

"Still using a rental?" He asked as he drove out of the hospital parking lot.

"I need a car. I need an apartment. I need to organize my life here. I'm some sort of obsessive-compulsive freak when it comes to stacking my papers and scheduling errands, but I can't get my life in order." I sighed leaning back against the seat as he gave me a sympathetic smile.


	7. Chapter 7

"Shit." I barged into Addison's office and plopped down on her couch. "I'm in trouble."

"What?" Addison removed her glasses and looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"My parents are flying in today and they decided not to tell me until five minutes ago when they got off the plane."

"Isn't that sweet though? They decided to surprise you. Take the rest of the day off, and spend it with them. We shouldn't be too shorthanded without you."

"Oh no. No no no. You don't know my parents. They're these…vultures. Nothing's ever good enough for them. Even my decision to become a doctor wasn't good enough for them. You'd think that they'd be happy that their only daughter was becoming a doctor! But no, they wanted me to go into business and make money not spend anymore of their money on med school. Now they're flying in and I have to endure yet another round of 'why did you choose this hospital?' and 'why aren't the floors mopped properly?' and 'why aren't you married yet?'."

"I'm sure they're not that bad."

I rolled my eyes and cursed when my pager beeped. "Well, you're about to meet Mr. and Mrs. George Stone. At least it's only a stopover on their way to Montreal." I dragged myself off the couch and forced myself to walk down to the lobby to meet my parents.

I found them waiting for me in a couple of the chairs in the lobby. "Hi Mom, Dad." I greeted them with an awkward hug.

"These chairs are uncomfortable." My mom commented as she stood up. "You must tell whoever's in charge that they need to change them. How can they expect people to wait for long periods of time in those things?"

I took a deep breath. Here we go.

"Yes Mom, I'll see what I can do about it." I led them to the elevator. "How about I show you around?" I pressed the button to the 4th floor and headed towards my office. "This is my office."

"It's a little small, isn't it?" My dad said walking around the room.

"It is, but understandable, right? I'm only a fellow here." I tried to sound cheerful knowing that this would go on for the rest of the time that they were here.

"Hmm." My mom sniffed as she sat down on my couch. Thankfully, Addison walked into my office.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stone! How are you?" She greeted them cheerfully. "I'm Addison Montgomery and it's been such a pleasure working with your daughter, you must be proud of her."

My parents looked at each other. "Well, yes, I guess we are." My dad answered slowly.

Addison stayed and attempted to make small talk with my parents for another few minutes, but was paged into an emergency surgery. She shot me a sympathetic look before saying goodbye to my parents and leaving the room.

"So what do you guys want to do?" I asked them after Addison left.

"We only have time for lunch. We have to be back at the airport in an hour and a half." My dad answered.

"Well, there's a nice Italian restaurant down the street. We could go there." I suggested and they agreed. After grabbing my purse and jacket, we made our way down to the lobby and walked out through the hospital doors. Remembering I was car-less, I stopped. "I don't have a car, do you mind if we walk?"

"Oh for God's sake, Cassie, it's just down the street. We can make it." My mom replied.

We walked down the street to the restaurant which was relatively full. We managed to get a table within a few minutes of arriving and settled down to eat lunch. We made small talk throughout the meal. They asked me how I liked the hospital and I asked them how everything was at home. We finished our meal soon after and they had to get back to the airport or they would miss their flight. I waited for their cab with them and made my way back to the after I saw them off.

"How was it?" Addison asked as I passed her in the hallway.

"Meh." I shrugged in reply and she gave me a sympathetic look before we went our separate ways.

I walked into my office and proceeded to work on my case files for my report for the week when there was a knock at my door and none other than McSteamy popped his head inside.

"Busy?" He asked.

"Come on in." I answered turning away from my computer. "What's up?" I asked.

He leaned against the doorframe. "Oh. I just wanted to check up on you. Last time I talked to you, you were freaking out."

I let out an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah. I'm finally looking at apartments this weekend. So I guess you could say I'm back on track."

"Alright. Just making sure." He shot me a wink before closing the door behind him.

"Be careful Cass." Addison's voice came from the adjoining door to her office. "He's not a bad guy, but sometimes when it comes to women…" She trailed off. "Just be careful."

I nodded my understanding and when back to work. "It just always has to be the wrong kind of guy, huh, Cass?" I whispered to myself under my breath.

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A/N: Okay, so not my best writing. I've been under a lot of stress lately. These next two weeks aren't going to help much either. I just wanted to get something out there and keep this thing moving along. I have spring break in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll re-write this. But you guys will definitely have a new and better chapter then.

Thanks! Please review. They make me happy.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So I updated a lot sooner than I thought I would. I was in the mood to write, I guess. But anyway, enjoy. Please read and review. You don't know how much it makes me smile when you do.

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"Cassie!" Rachel stuck her head out of the moving truck her now boyfriend, Nick, was driving as the pulled onto the street my apartment was on.

"Rach!" I waved as I waited for the truck to stop.

After finally finding a nice apartment in a neighborhood close to the hospital, I realized that my furniture was going to have to come out of storage and make its way across the country. Yeah, I could have bought new furniture, but Rachel was looking for an excuse to come visit and introduce me to her new boyfriend, who she assured me was straight as a stick. And so they decided to take a road trip and bring me my furniture so I could make my new apartment a little cozier.

"Hi!" Rachel jumped out of the truck and hugged me. "I've missed you!"

"I know!" I hugged her back. "So…How are things?" I asked nodding towards Nick who was getting ready to open the back of the moving truck.

"Great!" She exclaimed grabbing my hand and leading me towards him. "Nick, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is Nick." She introduced us and we shook hands.

"Thanks so much for doing this." I smiled at him.

"No problem. I'm always up for a road trip with this girl." He winked at Rachel.

"Hey Cassie! Need help?" I looked up to see Alex hanging out of one of the windows of my apartment.

"Yeah." I called back up. "Could you come down?" He nodded and disappeared from the window.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at me. "Hm? Who's that…?"

"One of the interns from the hospital." I shrugged.

"Really? I thought you weren't allowed to…" She trailed off.

"Oh please. It's not like that at all." I rolled my eyes. "I remind him of his sister." We both laughed at that and turned back to the truck to see what we could carry up to my apartment.

A short while later, we had most of the truck unloaded and decided to leave the rest until after we got some food into our stomachs and had some lunch. So while Alex and Nick decided on what to order, Rachel and I caught up while we tried to fix up my bedroom.

"So do you like it here?" Rachel straightened my sheets on the bed.

"Yeah. I do. Minus the torrential downpours every other day." I started shelving some of my books onto the bookshelf they brought me. "It's nice. I miss you guys though."

Once we were pretty much done with my bedroom, we moved into the living room and started rearranging some of my furniture while we waited for the guys to come back with food. We were struggling to move the couch from one side of the room to the other, when the guys walked into the apartment with their arms full of food.

"Seriously?" I asked as they started unpacking the boxes of Thai food.

"So, we're growing boys." Alex shrugged. "Give us a break." I rolled my eyes at him as I grabbed a stool and some chopsticks.

As we ate, Nick regaled us with stories from their road trip. From people mooning them to crazy hotel room neighbors to almost getting into an accident five minutes away from my apartment. I decided I liked him. Not just because he drove my furniture cross country, but because he and Rachel seemed to compliment each other. And he certainly made her happy.

The rest of the day was spent moving the rest of my things in and arranging my furniture. We unpacked some boxes, but some were left over at the end of the day. And after dropping the moving truck off at the local rental company, Alex and I dropped Rachel and Nick off at their hotel promising that I'd come by tomorrow before work and give them a few tips on sightseeing around Seattle. They were leaving in a couple of days and they wanted to do the typical romantic couple vacation type of stuff, so I didn't want to get in their way.

"Thanks again for helping me. I know it's your day off and all." I said to Alex when we got back to my apartment. I grabbed the leftover food from lunch and started heating it up. "Beer?" I asked looking in my fridge, which I had stocked the day before along with my cupboards.

"Sure." He nodded sitting at the counter. "It was no problem. I needed the work out anyway. Plus, I feel like I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you in awhile."

I agreed. "Lots of stuff going on at the hospital."

"I heard about your parents coming in."

"Ha. That was interesting. They were flying up to Montreal from California. What was I thinking moving to the same side of the country as them? I knew I went to New York for a reason." I shook my head in mock disbelief.

He laughed. "Well, at least now you get to study with the best. Besides, you wouldn't have met me." He said self-importantly.

"Yeah, the annoying older brother I never had." There was sarcasm in my voice to let him know that I appreciated him being around. I grabbed the food I was heating up and placed it in the middle of the counter and we started eating. "So…What's new with Miss Addison Montgomery…?" I asked nonchalantly after a few moments of silence.

"Hm…What's new with Mr. Mark Sloan?" He shot back and we stared at each other for a couple of moments waiting for the other to cave in.

He won. I caved.

"Nothing, he just gave me a ride to the hotel the night of prom because my car wouldn't start."

"According to some reliable sources, he's been asking around about you." He meant the nurses. The nurses know everything. You'd seriously think you were back in high school again with the way the staff acted at Seattle Grace.

I twirled my noodles absently. "I haven't heard anything…Anyway. Back to my question. Addison?"

"Who knows? Hot one minute, cold the next. How come we never know with you people?"

"Heh. Ditto."


	9. Chapter 9

"So I hear you're all moved in." Mark appeared next to me at a vending machine as I tried to figure out whether to get regular M&Ms or peanut M&Ms.

"Yeah. I got myself a car too." I grinned.

"Wow. Right on track." He noticed I still hadn't selected anything from the machine. "I'd go with the peanut M&Ms. Sometimes the regular ones rebel and don't drop. Last time, Olivia got into a fight with the machine and stubbed her toe." We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Thanks for the warning." I was still giggling as I punched in the numbers.

"What's so funny?" Derek appeared on the other side of me.

"Oh, nothing." I replied quickly as I grabbed my packet of M&Ms from the machine. "Gotta get back to work." I smiled at both of them before quickly walking away to avoid and awkward moment in the middle of a McSandwich.

"Cass!" I passed by Callie on the walkway.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Have you seen George around?"

"Um…Not since the interns did rounds, why?"

"His, uh, dad's been admitted. No one's seen George around since he got here." Callie looked really worried.

"Oh man. I'll keep an eye out for him and let you know if I see him."

"Alright, thanks."

"No problem." I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile before we went our separate ways. I made my way to Addison's office to talk to her about a surgery she and I were performing later that afternoon.

"Okay, seriously. What is it with this hospital and the interns dating their superiors?" Addison asked exasperated as I entered her office.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

She reached behind her desk and pulled out half a dozen red roses. "This is what's going on. And you know what? I'm considering accepting. Seriously. I don't know why. But dammit, I deserve roses, nice restaurants, and some freaking attention for once."

"Whoa whoa." I held up my hands to stop her from her tirade. "May I?" I reached for the card and she nodded. Alex. "Finally."

"Excuse me?"

"I said finally. Come on Addison. It's obvious. He really likes you. He normally wouldn't do the whole roses thing, but because it's you, he's willing to trade in his cool façade for corny and sappy. Go out with him. What's one date? You never know. Plus, how much trouble could you get into. Burke's doing it and so is Derek."

"You know what? I think I will." She nodded and sat down at her desk. After looking at the flowers one last time, she turned to me. "Are you ready for the surgery this afternoon?"

"Yeah. That's why I wanted to talk to you." I sat down on one of the chairs in front of her desk and we proceeded to discuss our plan of attack. Once we were both on the same page, she had to go check on some patients and I decided to go check on the clinic that Dr. Bailey had recently opened.

"Dr. Stone." Dr. Bailey greeted me. "Welcome to the Denny Duequette Free Clinic."

"Looks like business is booming." I looked around to see most of the beds being used and a couple of people sitting in the waiting area.

"I know. It's great." The other doctor smiled and looked around the clinic proudly.

"Well, I don't have anything until this afternoon. I was wondering if you needed any help down here."

"Actually. There's a teenager in curtain three over there." Dr. Bailey pointed to a closed curtain on the other side of the room. "A couple of months along, I think. Her boyfriend left and she doesn't want to tell her parents. Do you think you could just check her out and maybe try to convince her that her parents won't hate her if she told them?" She handed me the girl's charts.

"No problem." I looked over the charts quickly and made my way to the closed curtain. "Marie?" I said softly, approaching the girl. She was maybe 16 or 17 with light brown hair and pretty green eyes. "Hey, I'm Dr. Stone. How are you doing today?"

After working with Marie and sending her out of the clinic with the information she wanted, I found myself lying in one of the beds in an on-call room staring at the ceiling. I heard the door open and looked up to see Mark enter.

"Oh, hey. Didn't know you were in here." He said as he sat down on one of the other beds.

"You look tired." I propped myself up on my elbows.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Hm." He laid down on the bed and massaged his temples. "Maybe because I am. I think I'm tired of all this crap between me, Derek, and Addie."

"Ever think of telling them that?" I laid back down on my bed.

"Yeah. But neither of them will hear it. You know when you left me and Derek standing at the vending machines, he told me that I needed to stay away from you and stop stirring up so much trouble."

"What?!"

"Yeah."

"I think you just need to pound it into their heads. I think of all people, you should know how to prove to them that you're tired of it and that you're sorry."

"I know. I just need to figure out how."

We both laid there in silence for a few minutes.

"I helped a 16 year old girl get an abortion today." I started. "I tried to convince her not to, but she was adamant about it. And so I set up an appointment for her here next week."

"So young."

"I know."

"But I know you see abortions all the time in New York."

"Yeah. But I don't know…This girl. She reminded me of someone."

"Who?"

"Me."

"What do you --?" He was interrupted by my beeper going off.

I silenced it and looked at the number. "Gotta go. See you later Mark." I got up and left the room with his question still hanging in the air.

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A/N: And so spring break has commenced. So I'm hoping to update at least a few times this week. Again, reviews make me smile, so please? Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

I know I haven't posted anything in forever. That's because I haven't written anything in forever and I miss it a lot. I just wanted to let whoever might still read this that an update will be coming up soon if not in the next week.


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